


A Slice of Humanity

by thenumberonerubbish



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Future, Government Conspiracy, Human enslaved, Invasion, Keith and Lance are of another race, Kings and Queens, M/M, Mystery, Racism, Really it seems fast but really its for a purpose, Slaves, So it's not really fast, Success
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-01 09:59:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14518026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenumberonerubbish/pseuds/thenumberonerubbish
Summary: Rejected and humiliated, his family send him to the only school that would give him some social status among those who want his traitorous father dead. Lance is overcome with racism as the rumors of Zarkon's arising come to a breaking point, and within the small school ranks something fishy is going on.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance had never seen something so beautiful before in his life. Wings as black as night, eyes as dark as a purple evening, skin pale like the moon light on the surface of water and the smile that suggested that was rarer than the most precious of metals of the Earth. The image of the pretty boy was imprinted into his memory, almost burnt there by the brief eye contact they had earlier that morning.  
It was no coincidence that Lance had been pushed into him and then left there to stammer and apologise, the sore bruise on his shoulder suggested that the jocks had pushed and left the emo pretty boy run his course with the new kid. The _new kid_ who was exceptionally flamboyant.  
Of course, Lance wasn’t flamboyant by flamboyant standards, but to the rest of the shabby lot of boarders, Lance was the most definite prettier and well-dressed of the boys. A darker complexion that most of them as well as most of the school populace came from colder parts of Europe, with long eyelashes, sea blue eyes, messy brown hair and thin elegant limbs which was all put together with the mismatched coloured wings he had upon his back.  
He was considered attractive, _pretty_ if anyone was to put a name to it, and he had been rewarded with many suitors in the past, which all had been turned aside and rejected the most graceful way Lance could muster.  
It was almost annoying how many people had gone out of their way to ask his parents to try and court him, even those who Lance had no attraction too.  
Lance hissed as he curled his wings tighter around him as he glimpsed at the clock.  
12:00 o’clock. Midnight. Everyone was asleep and Lance was awake to bear the burden of remembering the attractive boy from that very morning. It was almost unfair how much attention Lance was getting and he wasn’t. A gust tore the world outside as Lance curled his wings tighter around him again as he closed his eyes and began to count to ten.  
It had been one day into the hell hole that was called ‘Galaxy Garrison’, although Lance never saw the real usage of a name like that as most of them only made it to the skies and never beyond. The sky flashed with lightning, making the room appear pale and frightening, the light illuminating and disfiguring things within his room.  Lance tucked his head to his chest, his heart hammering in his chest as he attempted to take the sounds away from his thoughts.  
He had to think about something else – maybe those _eyes_ – _No_ – _Nothing could be a worse idea_. Lance noted as he vaguely took in the tightness of his underware and the ache in his chest, his heart wasn’t really hammering from the storm that rolled on outside, it was more the thought of him, or whatever he was called or wanted to be called. Lance rolled onto his side and let the pressure on his stomach ease away to numb his arm. He let his right-wing drape over him and the other to tuck neatly in behind him as he drew the blankets tighter to his throat. He ignored his body as it betrayed him to his thoughts and finally wiggled from his bed and to the window that viewed the river below.  
It was a beautiful view, but it had its downsides. The room smelled of mould and some sort of dampness and vines crawled up the side to latch onto his windows. This meant the room was cool, and only heating could heat the room.  
And at this point Lance didn’t want the heating on. He could have guessed that the heaters had been put on high and someone hadn’t bothered to turn them off.  
It was most annoying.  
Lance drew back the red, blue and green pattern curtains to reveal the gush of the river, the lightning reflecting off the rolling surface of the water. The trees that skirted the outside opposite Lance swayed in the wind, leaves trailing down below almost elegantly despite the heaviness of the wind. A sound escaped Lance as he sat himself at his study desk and smiled at the view, his hands reaching for his phone that was charging just beside him. The screen flashed with a notification suggesting that Lance needed to get rid of some items on his phone as it was getting over full. Lance grunted and went to his camera anyway to take a photo, and then a quick video. Maybe he would later send it to his mother, and then his siblings. All of which had put in money for Lance to attend this school. The floor vibrated as thunder came above the building, letting Lance to look up in wonder. For a brief second, he let himself think he was home, all bunked up for the night as a hurricane rode onto the shore and into his home city. He let himself think that his father was out getting people to shelter, he let himself think that his mother was telling stories to her grandchildren, he let himself think that he wasn’t away from home and in the dreadful place that he had found himself in.  
A different kind of ache filled his chest as he longed for home, his eyes now opening as he let himself touch the curtain with one finger. It was thick material that was growing something along it, not mold but moss and with a hiss of disgust Lance shut the curtains and made his way back to bed. It creaked and groaned as Lance shuffled and drew his blankets over him on last time for the night before finally closing his eyes to sleep.

 

* * *

 

His uniform was so out of order. Not because it had brought a size to big, nope, but because he was too thin in all the different places and too tall to have another size. The uniform was fancy for a cheap school, with white shirts that were daily pressed by the ironing people below the school itself. Slaves. Prisoners of war. The pants were a dove grey, the tie a mixture of blues, grey, whites and blacks while the blazer, designed to allow everyone’s wings full access, was a startling black with dark blue trimmings. Lance clicked his tongue as he straightened his tie once more before heading to school.  
The halls were buzzing with activity, people calling others as they greeted each other like they hadn’t been to school the day before and other bustled around, their faces grim and unsmiling.  
It would be Lance’s first day without an escort, and honestly, he didn’t know if he would make it to his first class. Astronomy. A subject that had enthralled Lance since he was a fledging. It wasn’t a compulsory subject as the school’s name suggested, but it was more a subject for the nerds.  
According to his escort from the day before, the most common subject take among the students was ‘Flying’ and ‘Physics’. None of which were on Lance’s list. Instead he had: Astronomy, Art of Dance, History, Geography, Language Studies, and Art. With a slot at the end of the day called ‘Study’ that could also be taken over for detentions and after school activities.  
Someone shoved into Lance as he stumbled forward, his heart in his throat as his other shoulder collided with a locker, his wings expanding in shock. Someone swore as Lance’s wings bumped and crashed into people as he went to his knees. A snicker went on behind him as they stepped over his felled body to make their way to class as the bell rung.  
Reality hit Lance like a freight train going off its railing. Lance had never really happened to Lance, ever. But it was quite easy to see that he was being targeted because of the colour of his skin. The same male who had pushed him turned and grinned, a wolfish look taking over his eyes as he hissed. ‘ _Tenebris_ ’.  
The word thundered along the hallway as it caught on to everyone’s lips, the word repeated. Different tones invoked different opinions upon the accusation. Those who believed that the ‘Tenebris’ still remained to serve Emperor Zarkon on his return with his Galran armies. The traitors or as the name suggests ‘Dark’ winged people, or as original as the name suggests which could be translated  from English to ‘ _Caelum Habitat’_ which meant sky dweller, but the beauty of the name didn’t end there because if it continued to be translated it would be ‘Heaven lives’ and then to ‘The life of the air’ which was oddly poetic to Lance and it had kept Lance’s flow of imagination and longing to the max.  
Lance gasped as he felt a hand on his wing as a male peered down at him, the very same male from yesterday. Lance felt his eyes widen and his heart bound, and then he realized that he was still on the ground, everyone had left for class.  
‘Are you alright?’ He asked as he knelt. ‘It’s class time now. Do you need help getting up?’ Lance opened his mouth to respond but felt no words come forth, and with that he felt himself flush with embarrassment. Lance nodded as he then studied the out stretched hand and took it. ‘Lance, right?’ Lance nodded sheepishly before being helped up by him. ‘I’m Keith.’  
Keith. _Keith_. Lance almost erupted into a joyous laugh at the mention of a name. Finally. A name I could place on a handsome face.  
‘Yeah, I’m Lance.’ Lance replied, his face again flushing into a deeper red that reached his chest and to his belly. Keith beamed at him as he looked down the hall.  
‘Astronomy?’   
‘Yeah.’  
‘Do you know how to get there?’ Lance nodded slightly before giving into a guilty heart and shock his head in defeat. ‘I’ll walk you.’  
_Was it that easy to get an attractive guy to talk to me?_ Lance thought with some sort of satisfaction at learning Keith’s name. It suited him. It really did. ‘What class do you have?’  
‘Flying, but it’s not important. I’ve already finished all the work for today.’  
‘School has just started.’ Lance said with a bit of curiosity creeping into his voice, with a hint of admiration.  
‘I’m ahead of the class. Hostel student, aren’t you?’ Keith asked, ignoring the weary distance Lance kept himself at as he studied Keith again. The same dark hair, cruelly beautiful eyes and pale unblemished skin, but it was then noted the presence of multiple earrings within one ear.  
‘Yeah… You’re from the ‘ _Arma Naves’_?’ It was Keith’s turn to flush as he put a hand to one ear to twirl an earring around. ‘You’ve been to battle?’  
Lance knew, even if some part of him would always remain uneducated in _Caelum Habitat_ habit and culture, but he knew that every earring symbolised a battle that they had fought in. Keith had three.  
‘Yep.’  
‘I can’t ever imagine that.’ He could if he thought really hard on it, but his brain wasn’t allowing the sight. Anyway, he would never go to battle.  
‘What a battle field?’  
‘Yes and that we would ever need to go to battle. My father served on the front lines but decided it was too much – ‘  
Keith nodded, like he knew where Lance was coming from. Lance knew that pain was written on his face, the shame that his father had placed on the family after he had abandon the battle field and the humiliation whenever they went anywhere, because anyone knew a traitor or a weakling’s lineage for miles. ‘The humans didn’t deserve what we gave them.’  
_They got too much of what they deserved_.  
‘They didn’t deserve to be captured and then enslaved.’ Lance added, hoping that maybe the conversation wouldn’t be so awkward. Keith smiled softly before reaching the doorway. The sound of voices within made Lance shy away and look hard at the door once again. Keith grabbed at his arm and pushed him inwards.  
‘Sorry he’s late. I had him at my locker helping me take a few books to the librarian.’  
Iverson looked up, his one eye looking at the older cadet, his grey hinted feathers briefly opening and then closing as he squinted at Lance. ‘Take a seat Lance and open to pages 2 and 3, we’re about to start the study of auroras.’ Keith gave him an encouraging smile before briefly glimpsing into the classroom and turning away back to where he had come from down the corridor. Lance took a seat closest to the window, where few were seated and instantly took out the book that was required of this class. Instantly Iverson went back onto topic and went about brattling about nothing until he asked Lance a question. ‘You seem to be listening McClain, what is the answer to question 7b “In which layer of the atmosphere the aurora is created?”’ Lance dropped his pen from the paper he had been scribbling on. Human artefacts danced across the page, feather coloured and scratched decorated the edge of his paper.  
‘Thermosphere’  
‘And why is that?’ Lance opened his mouth to produce a small but satisfying answer as everyone looked at him with questioning smirks. ‘And a full detailed answer since you seem to know all the answers.’ He was standing at the edge of Lance’s desk, his eyes at the small drawings that had got Lance in unspoken trouble. Lance felt his ears pinken and he looked down at the desk before replying.  
‘Because auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is disturbed by the solar wind which changes the particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, it is mainly in the form of electron and protons where they precipitate into the upper atmosphere, which is the thermosphere, and this is due to the Earth’s magnetic field and there the energy is lost.’ Iverson made a face that suggested that he hadn’t done too bad on responding to the questions.  
‘Next time McClain listen and keep your drawings to outside class time. This is astronomy, not art.’ And that was that. Iverson left him alone for the rest if the class period, and when the dong of the bell rung in the distance, everyone disserted the class to rush to their other.  
Art of Dance. An actual class that was mostly organized and stereotyped as a girl class. _That’s what they meant when they said flamboyant_ , Lance thought with some slice of shame as he made his way to the class. He was surprised to find that there was a human female within the ranks of the class, her featureless back pale in her own uniform. She was pale and small with a light brown hair that went over her pale eyes. A small weal of pity formed in his gut, and then was replaced by another feeling as a male – more so Keith – was seated beside her, his own uniform jacket discarded as he stretched his feet. His eyes went upwards as the class quietened.  
‘Lance did you get lost?’ He asked as he smirked at the other boy, his hands were suddenly in his hair, just at the base of his neck.  
‘No. I just walk slow.’ Lance scolded him as Keith beckoned him forwards. The girl looked upwards, her eyes staring upwards in an almost prey like behaviour.  
‘This is Katie, or Pidge. She is one of the only human students within the garrison and has been placed here for advances of offerings of peace between the human and _Caelum Habitat_ ,’ Keith commented as Lance put his hand out in a greeting that the humans often used. Katie took his hand and shook gently before looking down at her text books. It was obvious that she had not come by her own accord but more like on someone else had picked it for her, as she squinted everywhere and looked frightened half the time. Lance clicked his tongue before taking a seat. ‘Lance, you might want to be taking off your blazer. This classroom gets hot when everyone is working.’ Katie didn’t look up as she rubbed at her wrists and then jolted down a note as someone began to speak to another.  
‘Does she understand us?’ Lance asked, both curious and weary of the human.  
‘Yes and no. She understands somethings but she hasn’t been taught any language, although she is a quick learner. Yesterday she couldn’t understand half the conversation I said to her yesterday but today she answered with a ‘hello’. An improvement.’ Lance looked at Katie as she looked up and went red. She scribbled something else down. It wasn’t anything that resembled words but more images. Lance looked on fascinated as the room went completely silent as the teacher came into the classroom.  
‘Well class. How are we today?’ The male asked, he looked over everyone, his eyes skimming those who looked on with some sort of admiration at the hot male. And that was what Lance was trying to figure out. Was he hot or attractive? ‘I am Takashi Shirogane, Captain of the Second fleet and eldest brother to Keith that small emo kid down the back.’ His eyes went to Keith’s as he slouched into his seat and scolded. Lance felt his eyebrow raise slightly as he turned to look at Keith who looked vaguely annoyed for being pointed out to everyone. Katie made a note. ‘Now, everyone up and push the desks to the side. We begin now.’  
‘Now. Without any brief or explanation to what we’re doing?’ Came a voice at the back. Takashi shrugged and grinned.  
‘Come now. I’m making up this lesson as I go, so get up.’ Everyone obliged as they began to push the desks aside and to Lance’s dismay they began to strip their shirts off revealing singlets and bare skin. Katie frowned before looking at Keith questioningly. He showed her what to do.  Lance removed his shirt and let the classrooms cool air rise gooseflesh on his arms and chest. Keith snorted before removing his and rubbing his hands up and down his arms. He wore a singlet with a patch saying: ‘Battle of Washington’ followed by the numbers ‘149807’ and the year ’3001’. Lance looked at him in surprise as he made a face to the younger male. Surely, he wouldn’t have been that young to go to battle?  
Katie made a note beside Lance as they were then instructed to the wall. A female, pretty and pale, flourished past them with her already graceful practiced skill.  
‘Now I’ll have the only two males peer with one another as it would be slightly unfair for you lot…’ his eyes searched the females as they twisted to show off their feathers. Lance wanted to tell them how foolish they looked. ‘And I’ll go with Katie as she is the only one not able to have a partner. Er small frame doesn’t match any of yours.’ Keith huffed a laugh as the group of swooning females pouted and set off to find a partner. Takashi made his way over.  
‘You really think putting Katie in this class will help her learn?’ Keith asked annoyed, he was putting his hair back, a hairtail wrapped around his fingers.  
‘Yes. She has been below all her life and that means she hasn’t had any real exercise. This class will help her build up the muscles that was wasted away in the city below,’ Takashi smiled ‘And anyway she will be useful in mission that require smaller and lighter people, as the _Caelum Habitat_ have heavy wings that are useless when they are trying to sneak around,’ He turned to look at Lance up and down, a critical eye examining his student. ‘You look like a good flier yourself. Done much flying?’  
‘Ahh no.’  
‘Cuba?’  
‘Yeah.’  
“Ahh. That would explain your accent,’ Lance flushed before turning to Keith, hoping that he didn’t look to embarrassed with trading words with Keith’s brother. “Now that everyone is partnered up I want you all to begin to warm up. Nothing is as bad as not warming up and then cramping halfway through the exercise.’ Keith instantly grabbed at Lance’s leg and lifted.  
‘Hey!’ Lance called as he went straight to his bottom, his leg was beginning to tingle where his hand was. Keith grinned and then pouted.  
‘You should have been prepared.’  
‘How could I prepare myself when you were suddenly grabbing at my leg?’  
Keith’s face went serious. ‘You have to be prepared for anything.’  
‘War logic?’  
‘Every day logic, _ninny_. Now get up before I use you as a dumbbell and drag you round.’ Lance instantly got to his feet, and Keith took his leg again and began to lift it above Lance’s waist.  
‘Ow!’  
Keith laughed, delighted with Lance’s lack of flexibility. ‘You’re as flexible as a potato. This is going to be so hard for you.’ Lance frowned as he attempted to kick Keith in the stomach in defence to Keith’s words. A grunt escaped him, but he didn’t budge. Keith’s grip was like iron.  
‘Do all of your kind have holds like this? Like they’re made from the metals of this Earth?’ Lance asked as he attempted to get out of Keith’s hold again.  
‘Do all of Cuba people sound poetic when the speak? Or do they just speak to have a bigger speech tally when they die,’ Lance flushed and then twisted so that he was in a closer range to Keith. ‘After you die you’re probably going to have to tally of: Words said – 1. 5 million, Exercise completed – 1 hour, Times spent blushing – 8 trillion hours.’ Lance flushed again making Keith laugh as he gripped onto Lance’s leg tighter. ‘You’re so easy to embarrass.’  
Was Keith _flirting_? Lance could not comprehend the thought as Keith clicked his tongue. ‘Straighten your posture and stretch.’  
‘You’ve done this class before?’  
‘No but I’ve been here many times before. So, I know what to do.’  
‘What other classes do you take?’ Lance asked as he finally straightened with a wobble and began to stretch until he felt the pull of the muscle in his leg.  
‘Flying, obviously, Art of Dance, Physics, Chemistry, Language Studies, Political Studies and Leadership Courses.’  
Lance winched at the thought of excluding study, one of Lance’s own subjects. ‘Any outside activities?’  
‘Aside from participating in battles? Yes; Falconry, Scouting, Engineering and Squashball.’ Keith commented as he dropped Lance leg gracefully and took the other one. Lance felt his head implode.  
‘And here I thought I was the nerd.’ He felt his wings expand, straighten and then lengthen to balance himself.  
‘You are a nerd. But a different nerd. I take math subjects, and physical subjects. You take mostly language and art subjects. Now please straighten – that’s it. There see it’s not so hard.’ Lance panted as he finally tabbed Keith’s hand on his thigh, as he decided that it was getting dangerously close to his groin area. Keith straightened and lifted his own leg up above his waist. He didn’t need any help.  
After stretching they were instructed to complete a series of movements that required little to no skill. Walking and the hopping on one foot.  
Lance decided that it was harder to do it with wings, as he noted that Katie was having the time of her life hoping about and then skipping on Takashi’s instruction. It made Lance envy her.  
The beats of everyone’s wings balancing and giving them lift off were the only sounds accompanied with the grunts and sighs as the class continued their work. Their hard work was interrupted by the sound of the bell in the distance. Keith lay a hand on Lance’s wing joint as he picked up his blazer and smiled, his fingers running lightly along the feathers there. ‘You want to stay here do you? It’s time to go.’ Lance nodded briefly before stopping and stretching before putting his clothes back on. Takashi and Keith were in a conversation when Lance finally gathered the rest of his stuff.  
‘Lance right?’ Takashi asked, ‘Keith was just telling me that Astronomy with Iverson, pretty cool subject huh?’ He nodded dumbly as he averted his eyes from the teachers as he felt himself flush again.  
‘It’s alright,’ Lance replied almost sulkily, but if Takashi heard it he didn’t say anything instead he patted Lance on the shoulder in a friend like way.  
‘If you need help come to me. I topped his class.’ Takashi was gone with a beat of his wings, his body making its way to the rafters above. Keith clicked his tongue behind him, a scowl on his face and a hand on his hip.  
‘You’re a mess, so you might want to pop back dorms to shower.’  
‘What about you? You look.. ahh… a mess?’  
‘I’ve got Shiro – I mean Takashi’s shower in his apartments.’  
‘You live with him?’ It would explain why he didn’t board, as most of the populace did. Keith nodded as he greeted Katie from behind Lance.  
Lance turned to look at Katie, her notebook in hand as she scribbled a note down. She looked up this time, and without breaking contact she continued to note take. ‘Katie you want to go – eat – do you want to eat?’ She nodded before ripping out a page and handing it to Lance.  Keith made his way to Lance’s side, a small smile playing on his lips. ‘She wants to be your friend.’ Keith commented as Lance studied the images. Various figures were clustered together with a vague pencil line that suggested a name. Lance. That was what she had been trying to write. Lance felt his own smile creep onto his face, his teeth dazzling at her. She squinted to look at them long and hard.  
‘How do I say…. That would be nice?’  
‘Embrace her. That’s what humans do.’ Lance went forward hesitantly as he embraced her lightly. Her shoulders were bony, and her arms were thin. Lance was almost surprised that she didn’t break in his hold and shatter into a million pieces. She stepped back smiling at him, her brown eyes sparkling as she drew away and wiped a tear away.  
‘Oh I think I made her cry. Isn’t she sad?’  
‘No just happy.’ _Happy. Happy_. The word bounced around in Lance’s skull.  
Lance felt a rush of affection race through him as he embraced her again and then he embraced Keith who stiffened at the contact, but gradually placed an arm around Lance, as he stepped away to smile. ‘I am guessing that it is recess?’ Lance asked slightly glad to find someone he could tag along with, even if Keith was (from an outsiders view) the outcast of the whole Garrison, and Katie was a human which was almost unthinkable to the stuffiest of _Caelum Habitat_ let alone the thought of seeing her around the place, was tagging along as well.  
_My father couldn’t have been more disappointed in me_ , Lance thought with some smug satisfaction, _he wouldn’t want his youngest son falling into the very same path he did_.  
Rejected, neglected, hated, humiliated and blamed.  
_It's already seeped into the next generation father. So what does it matter if I befriend one?_ Lance turned back towards the door as he made his way along the corridors, leaving his friends behind and the left over feeling of Keith’s hands on him.

 

* * *

 

Lance couldn’t get the feelings of Keith’s hands on him out of his mind. Really it was unhealthy the thought as it creeped up into Lance’s mind until he was fully captivated by the lingering sensations. He was beginning to ache again, but he put his mind elsewhere as he continued to wash himself and then dry himself. He had to be back before recess ended so he could ask the same question that had been thundering through his veins since the beginning.  
_Why did you help me when no one else did?_  
It could have been kindness. It could have been even pity for the new kid. But something in Lance hoped for more, that Keith maybe liked the sight of Lance. Lance dressed once again and put his clothes in the laundry bin so that they would be cleaned and ready by the time he got back.  
_Did Katie use to do this? Emptying bins and climbing up the shots if something got stuck? Did she clean and shrub every day until she was chosen to come up and learn?_ Lance felt his head shake as he stumbled backwards as the thought of people like Katie doing everyone bidding. She was just so small and innocent, even to Lance’s untrained eye he knew that she was pure and kept away from the dark. It was obvious.  
Keith was waiting outside the hostel entrance, a grimace on his face as _Caelum Habitat_ laughed and joked as they left the building. He sidestepped one as they attempted to be friendly and pat his hair, and jabbed another in the ribs as they snickered and pulled at his shirt. Katie was seated at a table, her pen flashing across the paper as she took down names through images, and began to fiddle with the names in her mouth. She was mouthing Keith’s name, and as far as Lance could tell, she was brutalising the name. Keith finally seated himself down before looking over at the entrance, and as he spotted Lance, he got up onto his feet and gestured for Lance to come over.  
‘Katie is learning my name.’ He stated simply as he clapped her on the back gently, a small smile formed on Katie’s lips as she turned and waved at Lance. Lance craned his hearing in as he sat down, and the words, although thick with her heavy tongue, produced the word ‘Keef’. Lance smiled at that as he tabbed a finger on the table that he vaguely registered as sticky surface.  
‘Keef,’ she muttered softly as she frowned and then repeated. ‘Keif.’ Keith nodded and the showed what he done when he spoke his own name.  
‘Key – th,’ he stated as he placed his tongue between his teeth as he pronounced ‘th’. Katie nodded and then began to say it once again.  
‘Key – ths.’  
‘That’s better. Now can you say Lance?’ Katie frown before trying the name on her tongue, which sounded thicker than ever as it attempted to say Lance’s name.  
‘L – l – ace?’  
‘Yes I am a piece of cloth.’ Lance stated simply which earned a frown from Katie and a snort from Keith as he elbowed him in the ribs.  
‘You’ll confuse her.’  
‘She’s already confused. My name is probably too thick for her to pronounce probably. What words does she understand?’ Keith looked to one side as he began to count on his fingers.  
‘Hello. My name. Sort of your name. Her own name, thank goodness. And the name of the garrison, but that’s probably a lot of bull as she understands other concepts just not how to pronounce them.’ He held up his hand, with his 4 fingers and thumb up.  
‘Can she spell anything?’  
Keith pouted, and cocked his head to the side in thought. He let his hand go to his waist. ‘Her name is a key aspect in her spelling career.’  
Lance nodded before speaking again. ‘Does she come from… ah… below?’  
‘Yes. Her father was an engineer down there, and her mother a nurse.’  
‘They teach stuff like that down there?’  
‘No. It’s self-taught and her father’s parents were around when the last of the humans were captured and enslaved. So, I guess his knowledge is a bit more extensive than the rest.’  
Lance chewed on his lip as he continued to study Katie who was now taking down notes as people passed her by. ‘Don’t they teach anything down there? Do they not even speak?’ It was a curious question fixed with a certain dose of uncertainty.  
‘Most of the people down there a mute, and there is no paper down there. Those who practice those skills are punished.’ Whipped, tortured, and hung.  
His father had humiliated his family for a bunch of humans that couldn’t even understand their names. _Was Katie even her birth name_. ‘They give each other names?’  
‘No. Takashi gave it to her. But her parents had approved of the name.’ Lance nodded as silence conquered the conversation and awkwardness stampeded in.  
_How could they approve of a name when they can’t understand simple communication_? Lance left the question hang there and when the bell rung he was glad to make his way to ‘History’ alone, as Katie was taken back to her rooms to sleep off the day. It was almost like she was an old nanny, always needing to sleep and as they got older they forgot things and the younger generation became too complex for them to understand. Lance clicked his tongue as he pushed his weight up against the classroom door and stumbled in. He was the first there, aside from the teacher who was seated at the front. He was a male ginger, blue markings marked his cheekbones and his ears were pointed.  
_I’ve never seen a Altean before_ , Lance thought, his senses clouded with the thought of meeting and actual Altean face to face. He smiled at Lance.  
“Ah a Cuban _Caelum Habitat,_ nice to make you acquaintance and my name is Coran, no last name just Coran,’ Lance nodded in greeting as he found himself a desk. ‘Oh, please come up here closer, as there are only two students within the class,’ Lance felt his eyebrow raise in surprise as Coran handed out a sheet of paper that was lain out on his desk. “Ah yes, don’t look so surprised. Flight lessons are always present during this class and so every – well mostly everyone – moved there.’  
‘Is there a reason?’ Came a willowy voice from the doorway, revealing a pretty female standing there. Lance was gobsmacked. She turned to Lance. ‘The name is Nyma. Nice to meet you.’ She held out her hand for Lance to take. A gesture that was very much human and not very _Caelum Habitat._  
‘Ah. Nice to meet you, ah… Nyma. I’m Lance.’ Lance held up his hand awkwardly that Nyma took warmly. She beamed at him.  
‘Well it looks like an interesting year, doesn’t it? I can say that we will have a lot of one on one time with, Coran, is it? Cool. I think we’ll have to pass with flying colours.’ Lance felt overwhelmed by her. She was beautiful, his heart was telling him so, but she had the personality of a princess. Bubbly and always in the spot light.  
Princess Nyma? Half breed of a _Caelum Habitat_ and human, the very princess that had been adored by the _Caelum Habitat_ court, but shunned by the humans? The very princess that had the ability to lie with ease? Lance went to stand up and bow, like every _Caelum Habitat,_ cultured or not, was taught to do. She laughed prettily.  
‘Please don’t. You’re my classmate and it would be awkward if you do that every time we meet. Just act like Coran. He doesn’t bow or scrape like anyone else, does he?’  
‘That because you’re not his royalty.’ Lance blurted out and Nyma nodded but smiled.  
‘Yes, that is true. But he is the Altean king’s pact for the treaty. He teaches here and the trade between our two civilisations live in harmony.’ Lance frowned inwardly as to not offend her highness. She sat down beside him, her stuff covered in coloured pink paper. She had a device that was made elegantly and had beautiful golden designs on the covering and sides. She was heavily rich and everything about her screamed it. She blinked slowly, patting her eyelashes at the electronic board that already had todays work on it.  
‘Now that you’ve introduced yourselves I will go through this list and tell you what you are meant to be doing and how you are meant to be doing it,’ She straightened her books perfectly in line and began to task of reading the book in front of her. ‘You’ll be readying from pages 1 to 10, and then when you are finished I will go over the task that you are to do after that.’ He began to explain thoroughly into the task, and by the time he was finished, the class was over.  
_How am I meant to learn when he’s just a babbling male that goes on forever?  
Geography now. Think later._  
Lance rushed out of the classroom before Nyma could corner him again and begin talking, as she seemed to have a lot of questions that weren’t going to get good answers, meaning the questions would be repeated and repeated until Lance would have to tell her an answer until she was satisfied. It was truly daunting, having a princess in his class. It was even more daunting knowing that her father had put the mark of shame upon Lance’s family when the head male of the house had abandon battle. _It would be awkward to be her friend_.  
Lance stopped halfway to Geography as he spotted Katie making her way in the same direction, her hair was slightly fuzzy from sleep and her face a little pink as she scrambled over a stack of chairs that had been carelessly discarded from earlier students. She looked almost like she had been crying, her eyes slightly red and her posture sulky. Lance approached her.  
‘Katie. Where are you going?’ She looked upwards from where she had sat herself down in her sulk. She looked confused at the question so Lance asked ‘Class?’ She nodded as she wiped her nose on her sleeve and looked up at Lance with hopeful eyes. ‘Geography?’ She looked down at the crunched paper in her hand and shrugged her eyes tracing the patterns on the cold floor. Lance took the paper gently from her hand and looked at it himself. He vaguely knew the letters as the words of highborn _Caelum Habitat_ and he knew some of the letters to make out her timetable.  
_They’re trying to culture her. They’re trying to make her one of them._  
Lance almost chocked at the thought. _How can she be more prized than that of the_ Caelum Habitat? It was unfair to say in the least that Lance’s parents weren’t helped by the government to have the children of the house educated, even if his father was dishonoured, and yet this girl was being taught high court _Caelum Habitat._  
_Something fishy is going on._  
‘Yeah you have Geography with me,’ Lance commented as he took Katie’s hand lightly into her own. ‘Let’s walk there together.’ She seemed to understand the gesture and so nodded as she beamed at him as they walked and in hand to Geography.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance felt the crude rope in his hands as he pulled and sweated. He could hear his father calling him to hurry up as his mother had prepared an evening meal. The light blinded Lance, as he squinted at the reins that he had been pulling on.  
_I want to go back. I want to go back._  
The horse in front of him nickered as it looked back at him, sharp teeth bared at him as he made his way past without harm being done to him. The grass seemed to grow and tangle in his limbs and he cried out as it began to cut him, as it began to shred his body to pieces. Blood clotted between chasms that were being made, blood soaked the grass as he wept. The grass thickened and transformed and eventually the horror sunk in as a cobra wrapped around his legs and torso. His father had always liked cobras, they ate the chickens and other small animals that the farm provided for.  
Was Lance the prey? Was he the fowl that was to be eaten? Lance let out a cry of rage mingled fear as he clawed and wiggled his way through the slippery grasp of the snake. He needed to get out.  
_Wake up. Wake up_.  
Lance felt the sweet release as the snake let him go and dissolved in the ground. There was nothing but darkness, and in that darkness there was a light. Almost like the human saying ‘There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.’  
‘Lance dinner is ready!’ Came a distant voice.  
‘Ma?!’  
A gruff voice followed. ‘Come on boy. We can’t wait all day for you to get the horse to move forward. Plow, it tomorrow…’ Lance let out a cry and he was in the kitchen, his father already seated at the table. Lance felt the soft wood of the chair beneath him as his father continued to speak. ‘.. I know you want to help shepherd the sheep in, but the King has no need for them and instead wants us to bring up fowl.’  
‘But we’re just going to let the sheep go out on their own?’  
‘Lance you father is right. It is that we move in country to the city.’  
‘But fowl…’  
‘Are our only option. The King commands it so I must do as I am told.’  
Lance felt the absence of anger replaced with icy could rage. His blood heated and even in his dream state Lance knew that his body was tossing and turning. He knew his face was wet with tears. He could feel that his body was sweating, making the sheets stick to him. Suddenly he wasn’t there in the real world, and he wasn’t in the same dream place either. The sky above was red, blood red like the battlefields that were described to him by his childhoods friends’ fathers.  
_It was wrong. They had mocked him_.  
‘We won on the east side with ease, massive casualties to the humans… well it would have been the same on the east side but I guess your father didn’t have the guts to go up against some humans.’ They hadn’t tormented Lance about ‘ _Tenebris_ ’ as they were also under the influence of racism and so hadn’t bothered to mention anything of that kind.  Dark. _Dark. Dark_! Purple. Light. Neon and a ship.  
Zarkon?  
_‘Yes_.’  
Lance awoke. His face wet with tears, his body sticking to the bed and blood coated his shirt. Fear bolted through him. Lance put a hand to his nose, and when his fingers came away he realized that he had a bleeding nose. He turned on his bed side light, his hands fumbling slightly as he stood out of bed, his shirt that was twisted around his frame, untwisted. He rummaged his draws for a box of tissues he knew he had but hadn’t unpacked. His hands were shaking and his mind was in utter chaos.  
Zarkon? A message? Lance shock his head and breathed in and out as he let his hands rest on the draws. He was holding a shirt, a blue coloured one that was his favourite as it hadn’t actually been worn before he had been given it. Everything in his family had been worn or used before Lance was given it, and so it was a treasure, it was something of a gift. It was priceless almost.  
Almost.  
His father had been worried when he had woken from his first dream that was a lot like this. Until he had a seer looked into Lance’s future and found that it was nothing but misery, nothing but a life filled unhappiness. Nothing but a life full of men that used and tormented Lance.  
“Can it change?” his father had asked, his face white from the strain of knowing what his son’s life would lead like. The seer had smiled and then laughed, like Lance’s father had said something funny.  
“Only those with enough power can help him _dishonoured_.”  
After that his father had tonics made so he could sleep, and eventually under the seers’ instruction Lance’s nightmares had seized. Until now.  
Lance let out a shaky breath as a drop of blood began to run from his nose again. He found tissues and staunched the bleeding, wincing as he drew away and looked at the blood in the dim light. He took off his shirt and draped it across a chair. A knock came at the door, and Lance froze before putting another tissue to his nose. He made his way to the door and opened it to reveal a human. He had brown skin, darker than Lance’s and was wearing clothing that was all the same colour.  
A cook. He was frowning as he looked down at his hands before looking up again. He had notepad in his hands as he wrote something down. Lance stood frozen as he watched in horror as the human wrote – wrote – an actual sentence.  
I heard you screaming.  
_Can’t he speak? Can’t he use his voice. Is he mute?_ Lance opened his mouth and gestured for him to come in.  
‘What are you doing here this late at night?’ Lance asked, his words thick on his tongue as he took in the human once more. He closed the door. It was disorientating seeing a human dressed in slave rags and in his room.  
I heard you scream. Came to make sure nothing was going on.  
‘But you will be punished if anyone sees you,’ Lance commented as he crossed his arms. ‘You’ll probably be killed for breaking every law known to _Caelum Habitat._ What is going through your mind?’ The male shrugged before looking around the room, his eyes landed on the blood-stained shirt.  
Many _Caelum Habitat_ go missing because of that. I can give you a tonic, it will knock you unconscious but it will help. _  
_ ‘There have been more people like me?’ A nod from him. Lance ran his fingers through his hair and looked at the wall. ‘Did you help them?’ A nod ‘And you failed?’ Another nod with a hint of grief on his face as the slave himself locked eyes with an object on the ground. ‘Do you have a name?’ A nod as the slave lifted his head up. He smiled softly as he turned away shyly. ‘May I know it. I won’t get you in trouble.’ The notepad came out and a name was written down.  
Hunk.  
‘You come from down below?’ A slight turn of the head. A yes and no. ‘And they gave you a name?’  
I was owned by the King before I was placed underneath. My parents were his slaves and through them I was taught how to write.  
‘The King required for you all to understand and write English?’  
Yes. So, we could place letters for the King. Lance looked down and took away the tissue. The blood had begun to seep through the small fabric and had stained his fingers.  
‘I would like that tonic, ah please.’ Lance answered, causing for Hunk to beam at him. He left immediately, leaving the door slightly ajar. Not moments later he was at the door again, a small flask in his hands as he crept into the room again. It was a pale grey liquid, and Lance couldn’t guess what was in it.  
Take it once a day. When you finish it a week from now I’ll be back to give you more. He held out the flash, his strong hands brushing Lance’s lightly, he just briefly felt a wedding band of hair tied around Hunk’s finger.  
‘You’re married?’ Lance asked. It was curious to think about as the slave appeared to be about the same age, maybe a year older, and he was, well appeared, to have already wed himself to another.  
_Humans._  
Hunk looked uncertain, his eyes dancing to the hallway. He nodded with hesitation. Lance smiled and then looked at the shirt. ‘Ah I’m sorry to trouble you further but my shirt has blood on it and I don’t know how to…’ Hunk nodded in understanding as he gently took the material in his hands and studied the stains. He put it over his shoulder and wrote down.  
My wife will know how to get them out.  
‘Thank you, Hunk. I don’t know how to repay you.’ Hunk just smiled sadly before taking his leave once more, the door shut quietly behind him.

 

* * *

 

Lance didn’t want to go to school that morning, his mood was ugly from the lack of sleep, and his eyes were heavy. His bed was just the right temperature, and his body sluggish.  
It was the tonic. I was made for me to feel sleepy, Lance reminded himself. He kicked off the covers and made his way out of bed to shower and dress. By the time he was finished, breakfast had already begun. A knock came at his door, and opening it he saw a teacher waiting patiently. Mr. Takashi. Lance froze, his tie loose, and his blazer creased with moisturizer on his face.  
An eyebrow went up and Takashi smirked.  
‘A pedicure next? Or even a manicure? Or maybe a hint of pimple cream?’ Lance scoffed at Takashi as he crossed his hands over his chest.  
‘Yes, sir?’  
‘Keith wants you in his rooms.’  
‘Sir and he sends you like a messenger?’ Lance commented almost savagely as his eyes gleamed. Keith wanted to him now? Just before breakfast – actually he was already late – so why now? Didn’t Keith understand that Lance needed his breakfast. That he needed to get ready.  
Takashi glowered at Lance for a brief few moments. ‘Yes. Keith was getting ready and he wanted your help with something.’ Lance sighed before turning to look at the mirrior. He looked messy.  
But then again.  
Keith. Keith. Keith. Lance shook the thoughts from his head. ‘Is that a no?’ Takashi asked. Lance turned back around.  
‘I’ll come. I’ll come.’ Just let me finish, Lance wanted to ask but he already knew the answer. Keith wanted him now. Lance rubbed in the rest of his moisturizer and straightened his tie before closing the door behind him as he stepped out into the corridor. Takashi smiled before indicating his hand to one side.  
‘This way, Lance.’ Lance frowned as he made his way down the corridor and was guided all the way to Takashi’s apartments. They weren’t fancy, but they weren’t cheap either, and it was easy to see that he had been living there awhile. Lance clicked his tongue as Takashi opened the door and called out. Lance wasn’t listening to the reply, he was looking within the apartments.  
Holy shit.  
There outside looked like it was in the part of modest and shabby, but on the inside it looked amazing. From where they had entered the room, a foyer as Lance noted, extended a wide staircase that would be seen in a mansion or of something similar. The floor was polished wooden, with the stairs the same colour and polish, the sides were curved metal work that reflected the window that was at the top of the staircase. From either side of the top of the staircase were two doors that were open. Keith came out from the left side door, his hair a mess as he buttoned up his shirt. Lance was able to glimpse the pale curve of muscle of the stomach, and the faint scar that slashed across his belly.  
He smiled at Lance. ‘You came quickly.’  
‘Sir seemed eager to have me here.’ Lance looked backwards to see a glimpse of Takashi. He was rested against a wooden beam that framed the door.  
‘Yes. I needed to ask you a question.’ Takashi let out a cough as he interrupted further conversation and abandon the room. Lance felt his eyes widen.  
‘Why is something wrong?’  
‘No. Just a question.’  
‘And that is?’  
‘How was your sleep?’  
‘Is that all? I missed out breakfast for this question that could be asked again anywhere.’  
‘Yes.’  
‘Any reason at all?’  
Keith blew out of his mouth. ‘You answer my question first and I’ll answer you after.’  
‘Yes.’  
‘Lies.’ Keith smiled and then made his way down the staircase, he was only in a shirt and underwear. Lance averted his eyes, his heart hammering in his chest and the pulse at the weakest part of his skull, throbbed. Lance raised an eyebrow.  
‘Cameras?’  
‘No.’ Keith let out a cough.  
‘Then?’  
‘A clever human.’  
‘Hunk?’  
‘Yes. He is Takashi’s servant on his best days.’  
‘And on his worst?’  
‘Answer me truthfully and I’ll tell you.’ Keith smirked as he leaned against the elegant metalwork. Lance felt is blood rise and his cheeks burn pink.  
‘No.’  
‘As I thought.’  
‘Now my questions please.’  
Keith grinned as he indicated for Lance to follow as he pushed himself away and lead him into a kitchen.  
_This has to be magic. This has to be made by the gods_. Lance felt himself give out a gasp of awe, making Keith turn to inspect him. ‘Never been in a human home?’  
‘No. Why would I..?’  
‘They’re better at design and elegancy, and at building and metal work.’ Keith indicated to the panels that showed waves, planets and mountains. ‘Takashi begged to have this apartment when he first arrived, and since then he has been making it back to once it was.’  
‘And my question?’ Keith grunted as he poured Lance a drink.  
‘I leave for Australia tomorrow,’ Lance felt his eyes widen and his heart stop. ‘The king calls his finest to the front lines.’ He passed the drink, nectar. Lance cupped his hands around it and gazed into the drink and swallowed.  
‘And what does that have to do with me?’ Lance asked as he took a sip.  
‘I need someone to basically be my _letter_ call.’ Lance chocked on his drink and coughed once, then twice, while Keith went to his side and patted his back. His fingers gently grazing against Lance’s feathers, and then the joint that connected the wings together. Lance stopped a shiver as he eventually straightened.  
‘You’re what?’  
‘Letter call.’  
‘And what is that?’  
‘Like a booty call but coded and toned down a notch.’ Lance felt himself go beet reed, from his ears to his neck all the way to his toes, he felt his hands go to his face. His thoughts raced around, they fought with one another.  
_This is sudden. This is not how I imagined the cute guy to react. Oh … what the?_  
Lance opened his mouth, and then closed it. Finally, words came to him in bursts. ‘Ah…’ Keith made his way to the other side to seat himself on the bench. He grabbed a human fruit, an orange, and began to peel it. ‘… why me?’ It sounded pathetic. Childlike, like Lance was whining about a solider _not_ asking to send a letter his way while he was out to war.  
‘Why not you? You’re attractive, and my type…’ Keith drifted off. The bluntness almost hurting Lance through the heart. _Was he planning this from the beginning_? Keith looked down, as his eyes bore into the ground. Finally, he looked up. ‘Takashi said to me once that I should keep in contact with someone. That maybe could blossom.’ _Into something else._  
Lance’s breath caught in his throat. ‘Does this always work with guys like me?’  
‘I wouldn’t be here if it had.’  
‘You’ve asked others?’ Lance felt himself freeze, and his insides twist. _Ouch_.  
‘No. No one that is good enough for me.’ Keith took a bite from the orange.  
‘Does all the court… people ask like this? Right from the bat?’  
Keith batted his eyes at him. ‘Yes.’  
_Oh. Oh_.  
‘This is your custom?’ He felt his heart beat against his ribcage, trying to escape.  
‘Yes.’  
_Oh._ _He actually likes me._ Lance felt himself return to the blushing mess that Keith’s words had left him in. Lance finally looked up at Keith, but instead of looking at his face he found himself looking at his pierced ear. ‘Another ring is going to be added?’ Keith put a hand to his ear and twirled one around.  
‘Yes. My ear will probably look hideously crowded by the time I get back. But what else is there to do? I flag classes and I crave war,’ Lance could see the worry on his face. The elegant frown that could be made into art. ‘So, what do you say?’  
_Let me think. Let me think_. ‘Okay.’ Keith leant back, his face relieved. _How long had he decided to ask me?_ Lance thought with some hint of worry. _Do_ Caelum Habitat _politics have to be so forward? Do they have to be so… fast_. Lance finished his drink, his appetite gone.  
‘Also, Lance. Will you look after Pidge while I am gone? She’s being moved to the hostel area,’ Lance nodded slowly, briefly remembering the nickname for Katie, before looking down at his drink as it distorted the image beyond it. There was a silence, not awkward but more tense. Like they both didn’t know what to do now that they had agreed upon something. ‘Lance I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. It’s just that… when I go to battle I always remember the things I left behind. Once it was my father, and then my mother, and when Takashi finally was placed into the same squadron as me I had someone that could watch over my back, someone that cared for me on the battle field. But now… he’s being moved up to the Royal squadron and it’s not looking good for him. The people he is going to be fighting with are losing their battle, the frontlines are weakening and bowing under pressure and I’m not sure if he’ll make it out alive and that means I won’t be there to protect him when he does fall,’ Keith trailed off, leaving Lance speechless so he continued. ‘… the point is that I’m probably going to have nobody to come back to when I do return and… it would be nice to return to someone that I don’t have to worry about but instead I can say all my worries to someone that isn’t on a battlefield and is risking their life, and that I know will not be… dying… or ready to die,’ Keith thought briefly for a few moments. ‘Lance…’  
‘Yes but what happens if you die?’ Lance asked, his eyes that had been down cast the whole time were now looking at Keith sternly.  
‘Then someone will remember me.’  
_That is unfair_ , Lance wanted to seethe back towards Keith. _It is unfair that you want to stay in touch but then you don’t care if you die leaving me here with your letters and last words_. Instead he kept his silence. The silence remained.  
‘I know it’s unfair to ask you of this, but… will you make sure that you learn how to fly?’ Lance felt his mind reel backwards as he looked away from Keith’s gaze. What? Keith let out a snort of laughter. ‘I know in Cuba that you’re not really kept in touch with your ways, but your wings will need the exercise. They will need to build up strength for what is coming.’  
_For what is coming_? Lance looked at Keith questioningly. _What is coming?_  
‘Hunk will be here if you need anything, like tonics for your dreams and for your clothing to be washed.’  
‘Basically, you’ve made him my cleaning lady.’ Lance stated, annoyance washing over him. Keith smiled as he hoped off the bench and gestured for Lance to follow. His pale limbs gleamed in the sunlight that drifted through the windows. They made their way down the corridor and to another room that looked to be Takashi’s study. Seated at a desk was Hunk, his eyes drifting from bookshelf to bookshelf. He was still dressed in the clothing he had the night before, and his face was grubby and his hands clean. Old blood stains from the water he had washed Lance’s shirt in, shaded the sleeves of his coat. Lance noted that his shirt was hanging up against a chair.  
‘Hunk, you’ve meet Lance,’ Hunk stood and bowed at the waist. ‘Remember you don’t have to do that in privacy, just more so in public.’ Keith reminded him.  
‘What is Hunk doing here?’ Lance asked as he looked at Keith.  
‘He came to Takashi last night with your shirt. Since Takashi was one of the few that knew someone like you were coming forth to the Garrison and wanted to protect from the prying eyes of Iverson, who is on the prowl to please the king with able bodied _Caelum Habitat_ at his side. Hunk here has had experience with _Caelum Habitat_ like you, and he is only loyal to Takashi and myself, and eventually he might only be loyal to you in Takashi’s absence.’  
‘How did he know how to come here. To Takashi?’  
‘Hunk served in the kings slaves for a while before being brought here. When he was placed here he married and eventually he had children. Takashi was there when his first was killed for having the sight and was there when Hunks second was murdered for bearing the same colouring as the king,’ Lance felt his eyes widen as he took in the big male. Hunk understood every word, and except for looking pitiful and sad he straightened his back in defiance. ‘His third child, a 2 month old was almost murdered when Takashi went down again and Hunk’s privileges for speech were taken from him, so Takashi took him in as his own personal ‘slave’ and has kept Hunks’ family safe ever since.’  
‘So Hunk works for his family?’  
‘Yes. His wife is pregnant again, and by law the child should be aborted due to child restrictions, so…’ Keith indicated for Lance to follow him. ‘She is being placed in the basement and is being feed by Hunk.’  
‘And your telling me this because…’  
‘I want you to stay in here while we are gone, so there is an excuse for food to come up here.’  
‘What about Katie? Isn’t she moving to hostel?’  
‘Yes and she is to stay there, but in your room.’ Lance stood back and stared at Keith.  
‘What if I say no.’  
‘Then Katie goes back to the basement of the Garrison.’ Lance scolded Keith as he swatted at him with his wing.  
‘You should be glad that I am saying yes.’  
‘Good, you’ll move into a room here, and that means you can practice.’  
Lance frowned. ‘I can practice anyway.’ Keith shrugged before moving onwards.  
‘You’ll probably train in Takashi’s training room. It’s more private and it provides better warmth in that room, in the rest of the Garrison it is cold…’ Keith stepped away from a doorway to reveal a room bathed in natural light. In the window Lance could see the sea. His mouth flew open.  
‘This is Takashi guest bedroom?’  
‘Yes.’  
‘His house doesn’t even look that big from the outside.’  
‘It’s been enchanted… do you really thing that Iverson would allow anyone to have a house bigger than he? If he had gotten over his pride he would have seen the perks in this house, instead he had an expensive house made outside the Garrison.’   
‘By human slaves.’  
‘Exactly.’ Lance stepped in wearily, and found that his stuff was already there.’ _How? What the?_ Lance whirled around to look at Keith but he had disappeared. Lance scowled the already gone male and explored the room further. His pictures that he hadn’t even unpacked in the other room where already on the walls, and his washing that he had left in his basket had been done.  
It has to be magic. A cough came from behind him and when Lance turned around he was delighted to see Katie standing there, he curls more bouncy than ever and her cheeks slightly pink.  
Had she been the one to clear everything away and place it in order. Lance saw her posture was stiff, and that he face looked like it had been wiped clean from crying. Did she miss her home? Did she miss her parents? Lance walked up to her and embraced her, like humans did. She giggled in his chest, and the repeated his name.  
‘Lance,’ Lance went still at the sound of his name on her lips.  She looked up as he drew away, well that was all she could do as he was much taller than her. Katie smiled again and said the name out loud. ‘Lance.’  
‘Yes that’s my name.’ She beamed, her face slightly creasing as she deciphered the words.  
‘I have done… good?’  
‘Yes. _Yes_. Katie.’  
‘Pidge. Name Pidge… for friends.’ Lance stood back in amazement, this human had learn sentences quick as yesterday she wasn’t even speaking but writing everything.  
‘Okay. Ah Pidge. Reasons why?’  
‘Below name.’ Lance felt his eyes widen, his body stiffened. She had been named. Her real name, her birth name, was Pidge.  
Pidge. Pidge. Did it mean anything in particular? Like small one? Child? Lance kept the questions to his mind so not to confuse her further. Lance clicked his tongue as he led her to the corridor, and began to navigate his way back to the foyer. Keith meet them halfway. He was now dressed completely and pristine. Like he was on show.  
He had medals at his left breast, his clothing the typical military clothing seen among their people. His earrings gleamed ruthlessly against his fair skin. Metal gleamed from his breast plate, with supple leather underneath. A sword, beautiful for someone of low status, was slung over his shoulder as he winked at Lance. A red sash was tied around his waist with numerous beads tied around it. _How many people had courted him?_ Lance thought, _How many has he tied around his waist to only keep them when they die?_ Lance wanted to ask the question. He wanted to ask how old was he when he was first asked? Surely he would have been old enough to have started puberty, and how far had they gone before they had died? Did Keith ever love them?  
With practiced grace, Keith unfurled his wings to expand to full height, showing Lance the beautiful platting underneath.  
Gold swirled elegantly around each platting, with faint gems winked at him. Lance heard Takashi scoff behind him. ‘You have to show off to everyone don’t you?’  
How could he have afforded something designed like that?  
Keith beamed at Takashi. ‘Why not?’  
‘Modesty Keith.’ He reminded Keith as he came prowling into Lance’s vision. Lance almost chocked at the resemblance of Takashi and Keith resemblance.  
‘Is it always that you dress your best before the day you ditch and head to battle?’ Lance asked, Katie had her hand in his, her grip like iron. Somewhere it dawned in Lance’s brain that Katie – no Pidge – would be terrified at the view of such beauty, because they had harmed her people for generations.  
Takashi had imilar platting to Keith, but instead most of his armour was designed in thick iron. Meaning, Shiro was a ground fighter and Keith a flier.  
‘Yes. It’s tradition to show everyone that the _Arma Naves_ are answering a calling by the crown. It… offers respect and in our case, sympathies.’ Keith commented, Takashi rolled his eyes.  
‘Don’t worry Lance. It’s juts propaganda. Keith is just still high and mighty from earning the right of passage to go to Australia.  
The right of what? Did Keith fight to earn his place among the _Arma Naves_ that are arriving at Australia to die in a battle that eventually they would lose? Lance felt his insides twist. He was starting to sound like his father. Keith smiled at Lance. ‘Don’t worry. It’s not as heavy as it looks. One day, after you’ve practiced your flying, I’ll help you fly in this.’ Takashi scolded at Lance and Keith both as he strolled off his expression stormy.  
Something told Lance that this wasn’t going to end well. 


End file.
